


Closure

by xingdom



Series: Awkward Prompto and Demisexual Ignis [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cyberbullying, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, M/M, Stalking, Threats of Violence, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-03-18 23:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13691988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xingdom/pseuds/xingdom
Summary: An old flame invades every part of Prompto's life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly written. I estimate it to be around 12k. This wasn't going to be a oneshot, but I believe it works better split up.
> 
> I recommend reading [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13493598) first so you're not confused.
> 
> Most of the bad tags come in the next part, and the rating may go up as I rewrite.

“Could you stop?” 

 

From his perch upon the small dorm room’s desk, Ignis lifts a questioning eyebrow. The royal advisor’s sitting on the desk, analyzing the room to better help Prompto unpack. Well, if helping means completely unpacking everything while Prompto snaps pictures of his working boyfriend. 

 

With Noctis’ becoming more involved in royal duties, Ignis’ schedule has increased accordingly. They didn’t have much time to spend together these days, so any time they had together had to be spent being productive.

 

When he declared his intentions to live in the dorm, Noctis protested more than Prompto’s own parents. With only two more years left before his marriage to Lunafreya, his duties ate up most of his free time. The young prince practically begged Prompto to consider living with the rest of the Crownsguard, so it would be easier to hang out. Training is a nice challenge, especially since he moved pass self-defense, but he never foresaw his life as part of the royal guard forever. Ideally, he would still be friends with Noctis until they’re old and wrinkled, but some part of him always felt like he was meant to do something else. Meant to capture the world through his lens.

 

So, that’s exactly what Prompto intends to do when he finally moves into the dorms to begin earning a photography degree. For a while, he’d put the thought on the back burner when… a **certain** someone had told him a fine arts degree was a waste of time and money. The thought engrained in his head, Prompto had idly said something of the same effect to Ignis right after they started dating. Ignis quickly dismissed those thoughts and promised that he’d support Prompto no matter what he wanted to do.

 

That brings them here, to one of the best university in Insomnia. While Prompto’s parents had helped with the initial move, Ignis volunteered to help straighten things up. The only problem with that is that Prompto finds his boyfriend to be insanely attractive at every single thing he does.

 

“Pardon? Stop what, pray tell?”

 

“Y’know,” Prompto makes a sweeping gesture to encompass Ignis’ whole body. “Smoldering.”

 

The corners of Ignis’ mouth twitch upward in a concealed smile. “I assure you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And _Six_ , he’s doing it again.

 

Being eighteen and dating someone so gorgeous is some sort of weird reward slash punishment the Astrals have bestowed upon him. Almost every day Ignis does something super sexy. Just the other day, Ignis had propositioned him sexually while they cleaned his old room. With his parents gone, Prompto had literally jumped on his chance.

 

It’s rare that the older man expresses what he wants as he’s usually all about Prompto initiating things. Sure, having agency is an important thing to Prompto; he’d freaked out the first time Ignis held him down while they were kissing. But the fact that Ignis feels comfortable to start approaching him first shows how much progress they’ve made. And it makes Prompto ridiculously turned on.

 

“Hmm.” Ignis folds his arms across his chest and considers the blonde teen. “My apologies, then. I’ll stop.”

 

Prompto rolls his eyes and dramatically tosses his camera onto a pile of blankets nested in a cardbox box. “Ugggh. Had all these plans to be productive today, but now I kinda have to make out with your dumb face. My life is hard, man.” Prompto stomps over to his boyfriend and momentarily maneuvers him to the side to sit on the desk. Once he’s settled, Ignis is pulled forward by his hips to settle between his legs.

 

A hand gently brushes a bit of Prompto’s fringe out of his eyes, which leads Prompto to shiver and close his eyes. When he opens his eyes, Ignis is staring at him, eyes soft and unreadable. His gaze doesn’t waver as Prompto flicks his eyes upwards to lock eyes with him. Just staring at each other like this brings a nervous flush to Prompto’s face and neck. Nervousness sets in, and he nearly cracks a joke to ease his tension, but then Ignis leans forward and the joke is lost.

 

Kissing Ignis never gets less exciting. At some point he thought it would become routine as it had with his first relationship. Nearly half a year later, though, and his heart still races. At this point, he’s pretty sure he’s in love with Ignis. However, in the grand scheme of things, they haven’t been dating very long. He doesn’t want to scare Ignis away by professing his love.

 

Honestly, Ignis is making it hard not to blurt out his feelings by the way his left hand gently cups the back of his neck and his right hand intertwines with Prompto’s left. Even his kiss is gentle and unhurried. If they could stay like this forever, the world could end, and he would still be content.

 

The Astrals are not on his side though if Ignis’ buzzing phone is any indication. Ignis sighs heavily as he pulls away, and Prompto does his best to not look too upset. He understands that his boyfriend’s busy, but it doesn’t mean he’s not disappointed when their time is cut short. Ignis reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone with his right hand so his left can remain on the back of Prompto’s neck. While he speaks into the phone, his fingers massage the back of Prompto’s neck which relaxes him to the point of leaning forward into Ignis’ body.

 

After Ignis ends his call, Prompto groans and wraps his arms around Ignis’ middle. “I know you gotta go work, but give me like, 20 seconds.”

 

"I’m sorry,” Ignis murmurs into Prompto’s hair. “Unexpected meeting.”

 

“Nah, don’t apologize for doing your job. Gods know Noct doesn't function without you.” He ponders this thought. “Me neither, to be honest, but I don’t have a kingdom to rule.”

 

Prompto feels his boyfriend’s body shake as he chuckles. “I believe you’ve overestimated my importance.”

 

“Dude,” The blonde pulls away slightly to look up at Ignis. “The week you had the flu, Noct literally wore the same clothes every single day. He needs you.”

 

Ignis lets out a deep sigh and nods. “Perhaps I’ve coddled him too much throughout the years. Hopefuly, Noct will learn to take better care of himself. I’m sure his future wife will be none too pleased if I’m to intrude on their personal time.”

 

Prompto snorts. “Noct having personal time. Okay.” He rolls his eyes. “He blushes every time I talk about them getting married. Aaaand he literally runs away when I bring up sex stuff.”

 

“Dear, I ask that you refrain from discussing our intimacy with him. I’ve quickly grown tired of the odd looks he gives me.” Their time appears to truly be up when Ignis pulls away and gathers his keys and jacket. “Please remember to send your class schedule, so that Gladio can fit in your training.” Ignis gives Prompto another quick kiss and then he’s out the door.

 

Looking back around his room, Prompto sighs. Guess he would actually have to unpack all the boxes.

* * *

It’s another week and a half before Prompto sees Noctis. The young prince shows up on the first floor of the dormitory, looking entirely conspicuous with a baseball cap jammed onto his long longs. Honestly, he may have been able to pass for another student if it weren’t for the two large guards shadowing him. Prompto recognizes them from the training grounds and waves at them before lifting a curious eyebrow at his best friend.

 

“Dude, everyone knows it’s you.” His statement is punctuated by a couple of girls exiting the building while whispering and pointing at the prince. “Have you tried wearing your crown and having a crier yell ‘Prince of Lucis coming through’?”

 

One of the Crownsguard coughs into his hand to muffle a laugh. Noctis reaches an arm out to flick him in the forehead, but surprisingly, doesn’t sass back. It’s out of character and immediately raises suspicion.

 

“Wait… what are you doing here?”

 

Noctis shrugs. “Got a good place to eat around here? I’m starving.”

 

“Uh… I mean, there’s the cafeteria, but I’m kinda already sick of it.” Prompto thinks through the few places on campus he knows well. “There’ a café type place just on the edge of campus. They serve these awesome sandwiches and pasta. Pretty much all-you-can-eat carbs.” Prompto gets another look for the guards and just shrugs. Part of training is following a strict eating plan, but Prompto figures he can be a little cheat-y if he’s with Noctis.

 

“Sounds good. Let’s go. Noctis grabs Prompto’s wrist and pulls him out of the dormitory. He doesn’t let go as he walks off in a particular direction for a minute before stopping and turning to face Prompto. “I don’t know where I’m going.”

 

Prompto rolls his eyes and heads west of where they were walking. Noctis is dumb, but he misses hanging out with his best friend. Though Noctis’ duties have stepped up now that he’s out of high school, Ignis helps with all the meetings, which leaves Noctis free to text during them. Prompto will always tell him to pay attention so that Ignis doesn’t have to do all his work, and Noctis will always reply with ‘fight me’ then continue goofing off. They text each other nearly every day, but it doesn’t fulfill his need for social interaction.

 

Since Prompto moved on campus, this is the first time Noctis has come to see him. He’s been attempting to entice Prompto to staying with the Crownsguard very opportunity he can. He even uses Ignis as a bargaining chip whenever the advisor is working in his office late at night. Prompto usually tells Noctis to knock it off, but he enjoys the blurry pictures of his boyfriend shooting the camera an annoyed look as he riffles through papers. Don’t get him wrong; Prompto loves hanging out with Noctis, but lately it’s come with pitches.

 

Noctis doesn’t waste much time at the café to launch into his spiel. “I have a proposition for you,” Noctis begins a they grab their food and sit at a table.

 

“I dunno if Iggy would be down with me teaching you how to kiss,” Prompto grins. Predictably, Noctis turns red and sputters.

 

“I don’t need h- Whatever. Just hear me out, okay?” He reaches into his hoodie pocket and takes out what seems to be a folded list. “I wrote this down so I could remember…”

 

Prompto peers across the table to see what he can read, but even right side up, Noctis’ handwriting is usually difficult to decipher. “Bet Iggy wishes you would do this during your meetings.”

 

Noctis ignores the comment. “Let’s see. So, I know you don’t want to be a full-fledged Crownsguard, and I get it. Can be a little glorified bodyguard-ish. _Buuut_ what if you become part of my personal retinue.”

 

“Like Iggy and Gladio?”

 

“Yeah, they’re both basically Crownsguard. Been through all the training and whatnot, but their focus is more limited. Ignis helps me with all the boring meetings and royal obligations, and Gladio guards only me. On his days off, or when he has official business, the Crownsguard rotate.” Noctis sets his list to the side so he can take a bite out of his sandwich.

 

Prompto thinks over Noctis’ proposal for a moment and starts working on his sandwich. “Okay but what would I do? You have your shield and you have your advisor. Don’t really have the brawn or brains to do much.”

 

Noctis lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Haven’t quite figured out a position, but it’s not hard to create one. Official photographer? Maybe media manager? Iris told me my social media accounts are boring.”

 

“Man, I dunno. Still need to be pretty smart to do that. Don’t know if I’m talented enough to post on the behave of the future King.”

 

“It doesn’t have to be super complicated. Like, just make sure I don’t drunk-tweet and take cool pictures of me when we’re out.”

 

“Sounds like a lot of following you around when you’re working.”

 

Noctis lets out an un-princely whine. “You can set your own hours so you can still go to classes. Plus, the pay for being in my personal retinue is way better than what you’re getting now. You don’t have to answer me today. Just think over it. Maybe talk it out with Iggy. He’s better than me at coming up with all the pros and cons.”

 

Prompto hums and nods. “Okay, sure.” He takes another bite out of his sandwich and looks over at the Crownsguard who are doing the best to leave the two of them along without scaring the other patrons. The offer is tempting. Lately, he’s felt a little tired with all the training combined with going to classes and doing homework. He was also working a few hours delivering pizzas, something he’s kept hidden from Noctis. Ignis worries that his boyfriend is working entirely too hard, but after Prompto refused to take a loan, he just does his best to make sure Prompto’s relaxed.

 

While they eat and Noctis tells him what he’s been up to, Prompto glances around at the customers. It’s a little early for dinner, so it’s not very crowded. Probably a relief to the guards. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies a familiar jacket and suddenly loses his appetite.

 

Diruo looks the same as always. His dark hair is slicked back out of face in a stylish haircut, and several fashionable rings are visible when he takes a sip from his cup. Prompto recognizes one of them as a present he gave Diruo on his birthday. His stomach turns.

 

“You okay?” Noctis eyes are slightly concerned as he looks over his friend.

 

“Yeah, of course!” Prompto brings his hands to his lap and pinches his arm. He didn’t realize his expression had changed. “Go on, go on. You were talking about courting?”

 

Noctis groans. “Yeah. Luna and I are going to take turns visiting each other so we can go on official dates or whatever. Completely public and unnecessary. I guess the media wants to see us together before we announce our engagement next year.”

 

“Doesn’t sound too bad. You’ll get to catch up with Lady Lunafreya before you’re married." Prompto chances another glance at Diruo’s table. After getting over the initial shock of seeing his ex-boyfriend, he can see that there’s another person with him. Another teen. He’s wearing a school uniform from one of Insomnia’s many high schools and blushing as he grips his cup. Fuck, Diruo’s doing it again.

 

All of Prompto is telling him to mind his own business. He doesn’t need Diruo’s attention. They haven’t spoken face-to-face since Ignis helped him last year, and he has no idea what he would say after so many months apart. He honestly does try to ignore the pair as it doesn’t seem his ex has spotted him as he’s happily chatting away with his companion.

 

But then the teen makes a familiar face. Prompto imagine he’s made that embarrassed expression every time Diruo talked down to him. For months he beat himself up over how little he knew compared to the older man. It’s what slowly mutated the relationship until he was trapped in his apartment with his phone privileges taken away. How can he watch Diruo do this to someone else?

 

But with Noctis sitting across the table, confronting Diruo wouldn’t be a good idea. After everything came out, Noctis had made very specific threats about what he’d do if he saw the man again, and he doesn’t want to risk the future King being caught up in dumb teen drama. So, he goes against what his gut tells him and tries to pretend everything is okay.

 

Not too long after Prompto spots the other man, Diruo rises from his seat and says his goodbyes to his date. The way Diruo’s hand lingers on the other boy’s arm makes him sick. Different boy, same tactics, it seems. As much as he wants to believe that people are good and that Diruo learned his lesson from the abrupt way their relationship ended, it doesn’t appear he has. It makes his blood boil, but he absolutely doesn’t think he should speak directly to Diruo. 

 

The other boy though…

 

He waits until Diruo’s well out of the café before he tells Noctis he sees a friend and goes over to the lovesick boy. When he approaches, the high school gives him a wary look. “Um, hey?”

 

Prompto considers backing out of this for a moment, but he can’t let this baby-faced kid go through what he had to. Who knows if the kid would even get out when Prompto did? On that note, who knows if Diruo had actually hurt someone before? “I can’t talk long. Just. If you’re into Diruo, like, romantically, you should just run. I dated him he kinda messed with my head a lot and told me what to do. You’re better than him.” It’s about all Prompto can say before he feels a lump in his throat, and if he gets further, he’ll have to tell Noctis what’s going on. “I know you don’t know me. But be careful, okay?" With this he walks back to his own table.

 

He’s surprised Noctis hasn’t been watching him the whole time, but he appears to be tied up, tapping away on his phone. “Hold on…” He taps a little longer and slips the phone into his pocket once he’s done. “How do you know that kid? His uniform isn’t from our high school.”

 

“Oh! Uh, he lives near my parents' place. I’ve seen him on the street sometimes and just wanted to catch up with him.” Prompto doesn’t think his lie is convincing, but Noctis doesn’t try to argue and pushes his list across the table.

 

“I wasn’t really supposed to be out in the streets, so I gotta go back, but think about being in my retinue, alright?”

 

Prompto picks up the list and does his best to interpret Noctis’ lazy scrawl. It doesn’t sound too bad, honestly. He’d get to spend more time with his boyfriend his best friend and maybe the pay would be enough for him to quit his part-time job.

 

And if he’s being really honest with himself, protecting someone else from Diruo’s toxic presence makes him feel a little proud of himself.

* * *

Being part of Noctis’ retinue is unexpectedly less time consuming than being a regular Crownsguard. Noctis wasn’t lying when he told Prompto he could set his own hours. A little afraid that the other guard may resent him, he chooses to be on duty a little more than he probably should. He works a few hours each week day, almost all day on Saturdays, and takes Sundays off to do the bulk of his schoolwork. Ignis, being the incredible boyfriend he is, composes a study schedule for Prompto. As long as he keeps up with it, he can squirrel away a couple hours of free time each day.

 

It’s a little stressful, but he manages to adhere to the schedule for a couple of weeks. That’s apparently how long it takes for things to go bad.

 

Prompto largely forgets his conversation with the boy in the café. After all, it’s not he expects to ever see him or Diruo again. Diruo attends a different college in Insomnia, so seeing him around Prompto’s school is likely a one-time encounter, especially if the boy heeds his warning.

 

The conversation would have remained forgotten if Diruo hadn’t shown up to his dorm. Not even just his building. He fucking knocks on Prompto’s door and shoves the door back when Prompto attempts to slam the door in his face. _Shit_ , he should have opted for a two-person room.

 

“What the **fuck** , Prom?” Diruo’s normally handsome face distorts with rage.

 

“Don’t call me that,” Prompto snaps. The nickname sounds like an insult coming from Diruo’s lips. “How do you know where I live?”

 

Diruo lets out a humorless laugh. “It doesn’t matter, you fucking cunt. Why in the Six’s names do you care who I date? Not happy with your nerdy boyfriend?”

 

Prompto backs up to his desk. _How did Diruo know about Ignis?_ He doesn’t think he’s ever been photographed with the advisor. Even if he had, Ignis is careful to keep any intimacy to a minimum when they’re on duty, especially in public. “Don’t talk about him. Get out.” His left hand grips the desk, trying to steady himself so he stops shaking. No matter the guarded expression he sets on his face, he’s sure his voice betrays how scared he is.

 

Diruo advances. “So, it’s okay for you to be in my business, but I can’t ask about your shitty rebound?”

 

Prompto’s blood starts to boil. He can take being called names all day, considering he’s probably thought worse about himself, but Ignis is off-limits. “You don’t deserve anyone until you fix your shitty personality. Get. Out.” His knuckles start to turn white from how hard he’s gripping the desk.

 

Diruo steps closer. “Did I _ever_ hit you? Huh?”

 

"You didn’t have to. The way you made me feel-“ Diruo laughs cruelly and backs up a couple of steps.

 

“I made you _feel_ bad, so you decide to ruin all my future relationships. You’re fucking crazy.”

 

From the corner of his eyes, Prompto sees his phone laying on his bed. In his head, he contemplates how fast he run and grab it and escape the room. Ignis was probably busy, but this seems like the sort of thing you call your partner for. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to put his plan into action because after a hard shove that drives Prompto’s hip into the desk, Diruo stomps towards the door and tosses a middle finger over his shoulder.

 

“Stay out of my business or you’ll fucking regret it.”

 

Prompto quickly slams and locks the door behind the retreating figure. When he’s sure the other man is really gone, he sinks to the ground and rests his head on his knees. The motions slightly agitates his hip, but he doubts it’ll bruise.

 

 _I fucked up_ , he thinks. Playing savior seems to have made things worse. Not for the boy, he hopes. Hopefully, the high schooler severed all contact with Diruo before they got too involved.

 

How Diruo found him, he has no idea, but it seems the older man just wanted to yell at him a bit. He debates whether he needs to tell Ignis about this. Ideally, the confrontation is a one-off, but if it isn’t…? A familiar feeling of deep self-loathing burns in his stomach. It tells him he’s responsible for what just happened. It tells him he should have minded his own business.

 

He balls both of his hands into fists until his fingernails start to dig into his palm. It calms him a little now, but it does nothing later as he lies awake, jumping at every sound in the hallway.

 

He doesn’t call Ignis.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Prompto rolls out of bed just past six to search through all his social media profiles. That was the only possible solution; he’d posted about going to college and a few selfies with Ignis the past few months. After the incident last year, he’d made sure to block Diruo and anyone associated with him. He’d even taken Ignis’ suggestion of restricting who could view his profiles, just in case. Unless one of his online friends sold him out, he has no idea how Diruo found him, but just to be safe, he changes everything to private until he can figure things out.

 

What’s usually a time to clear his head, his morning jog just makes him feel paranoid that his ex is going to jump out of a bush or something. He laughs at how ridiculous the thought is, but it doesn’t make him any less nervous, so he runs a quicker pace than usual.

 

Like clockwork, Ignis messages him an hour before his first class to say good morning. Prompto stares at it, contemplating telling Ignis about the ambush. What would he say? Would it even do any good to tell him? Ignis would be upset, sure, but how could he fix the problem? He’ll hold back for the time being. After he uncovers how Diruo found him and moves to a different room, he’ll mention it. Ignis doesn’t need even more on his plate.

 

His message back to Ignis is full of his usual emojis back. He’ll solve this soon. A few days at the most.

 

For now, he does his best to push it out of his mind. Tuesdays are his busy days with three classes and four hours of Crownsguard duty. Noctis has a public outing to a newly opening museum, and Prompto’s on Twitter duty. For two glorious hours, he’ll follow the prince around and capture ‘natural’ pictures of him observing the art. Not an easy task considering Noctis has a resting bored-out-of-my-mind face.

 

His classes come and go with no incident, but he feels a little on edge the whole time thinking abut going home. Prompto doesn’t think Diruo would stake out his dorm room, but then again, he didn’t expect him to come scream at him. There’s a lot he didn’t know about his ex, and he’s glad he didn’t stick around to learn anything more.

 

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to return to his room until well after the museum event. After the event he needs to pick out a few photos to give to Insomnia’s main newspaper, but first, he’d need to send them to a professional photographer to be retouched. 

It honestly felt like too much responsibility for an average eighteen-year-old fresh out of high school, but Ignis offered to help him. It was just as well since Prompto prefers working in Ignis’ office. Cor arranged a small room for him, but it entirely too official and being alone in there makes him nervous.

 

“You look rather striking,” Ignis comments during the few minutes they have before they pile into the Regalia and head to the museum. They’re milling around Noctis’ apartment, waiting for the young prince to finish dressing in his royal fatigues.

 

Prompto tries his best to not blush, but it’s unavoidable whenever Ignis compliments him. “Uhhh, it’s just the Crownsguard uniform? You’ve seen me in this tons of times.”

 

“Mmm, and you always look striking.”

 

“Are you trying to get a handie on duty? Cuz this is how you get a handie on duty.”

 

Noctis lets out an exasperated ‘CAN YOU NOT’ from his bedroom.

 

Ignis has a small smile on his lips as he closes his eyes and shakes his head. “That might be a little inappropriate, but I don’t His Highness will mind a kiss.” Prompto obliges, and his heart starts racing more than it already does around his boyfriend. Geez, he has it bad.

 

“Let’s get this over with,” Noctis grumbles when he final exits the bedroom. “Here.” He hands his phone over to Prompto. “Don’t make me look dumb.”

 

“Right! Got it!” Prompto opens the Twitter app on Noctis’ phone and sets his thumbs to typing. “The only… real art… is Moogle art…”

 

“Prompto!” Noctis punches his friend in the arm and reaches out for his phone.

 

“Ow! I was kidding, you jerk.” He turns the phone so Noctis can view the screen. “Just a boring tweet about looking forward to viewing ‘the products of Insomnia’s most creative minds.’” The last bit is said in a dramatic interpretation of Ignis’ accent. “Damn, I’m good at my job.”

 

Noctis rolls his eyes and shoves Prompto’s head away. “You’re alright.”

 

Gladio is waiting outside by the Regalia and easily falls into helping Prompto tease Noctis on the way to the museum. They’ve moved onto the ever-popular topic of Noctis’ brooding personality when Prompto’s phone dings with a notification. Hastily, he takes it out of his pocket to silence it since he’ll be too busy to look at it. The icon on his screen isn’t what he’s expecting. It’s a notification from his cloud app alerting him that his document was successfully uploaded.

 

Weird. He hasn’t dropped anything into his cloud in a few days. He taps the notification to pull up the app and taps the document that’s name is just a jumble of numbers and letters. The document only has two words.

 

**Kill yourself.**

 

Prompto’s breath hitches. To not bring attention to himself, he locks the phone again and brings it to his lap as casually as he can. The others don’t seem to have noticed since there’s no lull in the conversation.

 

What is he supposed to do? He’s never been bullied, even when he was overweight and kept to himself. There’s a small chance some random kid hacked into his cloud, but it can’t be a coincidence that Diruo ambushes him one day and he gets a nasty note the next. But how could Diruo access his account? His password is pretty secure, and he never signs in on public devices. Only his laptop and his phone.

 

His phone.

 

Diruo stole his phone when they broke up, but that was, what, nine months ago? Did he actually keep it this long? It’s not like his old phone was a new model or anything. Even when living with his parents, he had to fend for himself and bought one of the cheapest smartphones on the market. Fortunately, he could easily cut of Diruo’s access with a few changed passwords once he got home, but the thought of Diruo bidding his time for months… waiting to mess with him again. It makes Prompto feel physically sick.

 

A sudden weight on the left thigh makes Prompto jump in his seat, but he calms once he notices it’s just Ignis’ hand. The advisor has an uncanny ability to sense when there’s a war raging in Prompto’s head. Ignis’ eyes stay on the road, but his hand gives a reassuring squeeze. Whatever’s bothering Prompto, he won’t bring up in front of the others, but it’ll come up once they’re alone.

 

Prompto turns his phone off and rests his hand on top of his boyfriend’s. So, things aren’t quite fixed, but after tonight, he can nip this whole bullying thing in the bud, and then he’ll tell Ignis.

 

\--

 

Trying to take a proper picture of Noctis proves to be a welcome distraction to Prompto’s personal problems. For a prince, Noctis sure doesn’t know how to feign interest when he’s terribly bored. When Prompto exasperatedly asks him to look like he’s enjoying himself, Noctis plasters an extremely fake smile on his face and strikes an overexaggerated pose. No wonder Ignis gets so many tension headaches.

 

Prompto ends up resorting to cracking jokes, which produces some natural reactions from the prince. Even if Prompto feels his job is a bit useless, it was literally created so he could hang out with Noctis, it’s good to see Noctis having some kind of fun while working.

 

At the end of the night, after Noctis is back home and Gladio has gone back to his own home, Prompto sits behind Ignis’ desk as the older man gives instructions on where to find the contact information for Lucis’ official affiliates. After choosing the best photos from the event, Prompto sends them to the photographer to be retouched and moves to other side of the desk to wait the half hour it takes for the photos the proofs to be sent back.

 

“So, how did Noct manage to get a job made for me?” Prompto sits with his legs slung over the arms of the chair. While he waits, he figures he could go about changing his passwords. Ignis settles in his desk chair and opens his planner to go over his to-do list.

 

“A healthy combination of begging both His Majesty and the Marshal.”

 

“Makes sense. Soooo, all my duties, who handled them before?”

 

“You’re to handle a fair bit of my miscellaneous duties. The increased social media presence is new. It appears citizens have a growing interest in Noct’s life since his courtship was formally announced.” Ignis checks a few items off his long list and circles some responsibilities that can be moved to a later date.

 

“So, I do your grunt work,” Prompto jokes. “Don’t mind though as long as it takes some of the load off you.” Once his cloud app is open, Prompto sees three more files have been dropped in. All three plus the document from earlier are deleted. Once all his passwords are changed, he breathes a sigh of relief and looks up at his boyfriend.

 

Ignis looks tired as he flips through his planner, viewing the next few days. He quickly jots a few extra notes down. Even with Prompto taking over part of his work, it doesn’t seem like his schedule is any less full. Prompto wouldn’t put it beyond his boyfriend to take on more responsibility to make up for what Prompto’s doing.

 

“Would you like to spend the night? That is, if it doesn’t hinder you from attending your early class.” The way Ignis looks at him makes Prompto melt. Nobody has ever looked at him that way, and it makes him uncomfortable and giddy at the same time.

 

“I really like you,” he blurts out. A little embarrassing, but at least he didn’t say love. But damn, does he love him. “Probably hard to guess from all the kissing, huh?”

 

“Mmm,” Ignis smiles softly. “I really like you, too. Is that a yes to my proposal?”

 

“Duh.”

 

Feeling like his usual mischievous self, Prompto lets his hand wander during the short ride to Ignis’ apartment. When Prompto’s hand settles a little on Ignis’s thigh, the advisor sharply inhales and lightly chides Prompto about road safety. “Could always tell me to stop,” Prompto shrugs. “I respect my sweetie.”

 

Ignis drums his fingers against the steering wheel and peers over at Prompto. “Do what you’d like, but any… _teasing_ will be repaid.” Prompto shivers.

 

“O-oh! Better keep my hands to myself then!” His hands retreat into his own space and are pinned beneath his thighs. Prompto doesn’t miss the smirk on his boyfriend’s face. Holy shit, what good has he done to deserve this man? It’s a constant question on his mind, and he’s yet to come up with an answer.

 

Once they’re finally in the comforts of a soft bed, Ignis, as promised, lingers at Prompto’s belt. Prompto squirms even more than his usual restless self and whines. “Iggyyyyy. My hand was on your thigh for, like, point three seconds. Give me a breeeeeeeak.”

 

“You should know that I’ve dealt with an insolent prince long enough that whining makes me move no faster.” Still, Ignis traces the belt buckle but makes no move to remove it.

 

Prompto dramatically throws an arm over his eyes. “But you love me, so stop teasing meee.” The Crownsguard uniform doesn’t leave much room, which leaves Prompto feeling like he’s going to implode if his pants aren’t taken off.

 

Above him, Ignis stills and falls silent. Prompto peeks under his arm to look at his boyfriend. Ignis’ face is unreadable, lips slightly parted. “You good, Specs?” His response is a hurried kiss and Ignis’ lithe body pressed against his. Prompto enthusiastically responds and moves to untuck Ignis’ shirt enough to run his hands along his spine and defined back muscles. It doesn’t feel like enough skin contact, so he tugs at the shirt in hopes it’ll be removed. 

 

Ignis doesn’t stop kissing him, but he lifts up onto his elbows so that Prompto can unbutton his shirt. His fingers are trembling so much from how excited he is that it takes way longer than he’d like to reveal Ignis’ smooth chest. He pulls away to stare, unabashed. Not too often does he have a private opportunity to see his boyfriend shirtless. Most of the time, he sees it in passing in the Crownsguard locker rooms, but of course, he doesn’t think the others would be too happy if he tented his sweatpants in the middle of them.

 

“Fuck, Iggy, you’re perfect. It’s kinda not fair.”

 

“Mmm, I could say the same of you.” Ignis kisses him once more and shifts so he’s able to reach his nightstand to grab the blueberry lube Prompto’s so fond of.

 

“Nah. Haven’t been training my whole life like you.” Eager hands push Ignis’ shirt past his shoulders, and he’s more than glad to see the skin on display once the button down is discarded.

 

“Still,” Ignis runs a hand underneath Prompto’s shirt. “I’d like to see you, if you don’t mind.”

 

Letting Iggy look at his dick? Easy peasy. Letting Iggy see him shirtless? Still a bit of a sore spot. But the way Ignis stares at him, like he’s the most important thing on Earth, has him nodding and sitting up slightly so his vest can be shrugged off and his shirt pulled over his head.

 

The only source of light in the room streams from the small bedroom window, but it still feels like too much when Ignis takes the time to properly look at him. The advisor’s gaze isn’t judging; his green eyes are tender behind his lenses. His fingers lightly trail down Prompto’s chest and down his stomach. Prompto’s natural reaction is to tense up, but Ignis’ gentle ministrations coax him to relax.

 

It takes all that Prompto has to fight his instinct to word-vomit and tell Ignis he loves him. He’s never been in love before, so he’s not sure when the right time to say it is, but he’s sure in bed isn’t the bet time. Every part of him, though, wants to express just how much he cares for the man on top of him.

 

“Ignis?” Rarely does Prompto use his boyfriend’s actual name, so it makes him pause. “Uhhh, I want you to, uhm.” _Don’t say ‘fuck me,’_ he instructs himself.

 

“Yes, my sweet?” The concern on Ignis’ face just makes him fall deeper in love, and he just blurts something out. He has no idea what words tumble out his lips, but his message seems to get across when Ignis’ wide eyes catch his own. “Are… are you sure?”

 

Prompto’s nerves kick in and he has to turn away from Ignis’ intense gaze. “Y-yeah, I mean… Well, I think about it a lot, but if you don’t want to, it’s okay.”

 

“I do.” Ignis’ words are measured. “I just want to be sure this is what you really want. I’m more than happy to pleasure you in other ways.”

 

“I do,” he laughs nervously. “Just… well, I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

 

Ignis kisses him slowly and runs a calming hand up and down his side. “I’m afraid I lack any kind of protection.”

 

Prompto flushes and shyly shrugs. “That’s cool with me. I could provide you with an official memo of my previous partners if you’d like? Might be a waste of the stationary.” This makes Ignis laughs, and he lands a quick peck on Prompto’s forehead, but he _finally_ starts to unbuckle Prompto’s belt. His pace is tantalizingly slow, and Prompto’s about to demand that Ignis makes some haste, but he’s distracted by the phone buzzing in his back pocket.

 

The vibrations are short and spaced about 10-15 seconds apart, so it’s not a phone call, but it’s constant to the point where it’s concerning. It could be a series of texts, but the frequency at which they’re being sent makes him worry.

 

“Uhhhh, I hate to kill the mood, but my phone is kinda blowing up. Wanna make sure it’s not anything serious.” If Prompto were in Ignis’ position, he probably would have signed dramatically and cursed whoever interrupted them, but Ignis is Ignis and simply nods and pulls back so that Prompto can sit up and look at his phone. After initially being blinded by his phone display, Prompto checks the notifications. Surprisingly, he doesn’t have any messages, but _holy shit_ he has 12 unread emails. 

 

“Is everything alright?”

 

Prompto shrug. “No idea. Got a load of emails though. I do have a group project in one of my classes, but it’s not due for a while, I thought…” he trails off and shrugs. “We’re meeting tomorrow afternoon to brainstorm, so they can wait."

 

Ignis gives him a stern look. “If this concerns your academics, I would not want you to ignore your group mates.”

 

‘Fuck my group mates,’ is what Prompto wants to say, but he sighs and nods. Looks like they’re not having sex tonight, but he could probably negotiate some shower handjobs after dealing with these emails.

 

It takes all of two seconds to realize the emails are not from his group mates. He doesn’t recognize the address; it’s definitely not a collegiate email address. The technophile in him tells him that the address is one of those fake ones that deletes themselves after a short period of time. Each email has no subject, which leads Prompto to believe it’s all spam, but he taps on the top email, the latest one that came in while he’s being on his phone.

 

**fucking know wher e you livt===e, maybe I’ll still come andfuck you**

 

Prompto pulls away from Ignis and throws his legs over the side of the bed. _What the actual fuck?_ He backs out of the email and taps on the earliest email.

 

**Fuck you. Do the world a favor and kill yourself.**

 

As he goes through the emails, they get more unintelligible and more sexually charged. Any desire he felt is completely gone. Truth be told, all desire has turned into a physical sickness. He excuses himself to the bathroom without giving Ignis a chance to reply and sits on the lid of the toilet. No need to guess who the emails are from.

 

Sighing shakily, he types a reply. He apologizes for intruding on Diruo’s personal life, even though the older man could go fuck himself, but he also includes a warning that he’ll contact the police if Diruo keeps harassing him. He’s not totally sure if there’s anything the police can do, but it seems the other man is not in a stable state of mind, so maybe the threat will make him back off.

 

While he waits to see if he receives a coherent reply, he reaches over to turn the cold water tap on. The sound of running water makes the silence of the room feel less suffocating. He also removes the bandana that’s still tied to his bicep and picks at a loose thread. Keeping his hands busy prevents him from pinching his arms, a nervous habit he’s trying to break.

 

After five minutes of waiting, Diruo finally sends a reply. Prompto wonders if he’ll even be able to read it, considering the legibility of the latest emails. But that’s no worry since the only thing in the email are pictures. Pictures of Prompto, taken from his cloud. Creepy, but expected, since he had full access to it earlier.

 

What actually has him falling to his knees, slamming the toilet lid open, and emptying his stomach are the candid pictures of him. From _today_. Mostly at the museum, kind of expected considering the crowd, but there’s candid pictures of Prompto out on his morning run… on campus… in class.

 

The stream of water must do nothing to hide his retching, as there’s a sharp knock on the bathroom door once he’s done. “Prompto, is everything alright?”

 

Prompto freezes at first and falls silent. Ignis knocks again. “Dear?”

 

“Uh…” A lie is on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t think of any good reasons to lie. He’s not handling this. Everything is wrong. Part of not telling Ignis comes from a need to prove that he can take care of himself. Having to call Ignis to help him the first time around felt embarrassing, and he swore to never be in that kind of position again. But here he is, less than a year later, being harassed by the same person Ignis saved him from.

 

Slowly, he rises to his feet and flushes the toilet. “Give me a sec,” he rasps, his throat raw. He keeps a toothbrush at Ignis’ apartment for impromptu sleepovers, which he’s extremely happy for. He quickly brushes his teeth, making sure there’s no trace of bile on tongue and tries to work through what he’ll tell Ignis.

 

When his mouth is sufficiently clean, he works up the courage to seek Ignis’ help. The moment he opens the door, he sees that his boyfriend looks extremely worried. In this situation, Prompto can’t even bring himself to appreciate Ignis’ bare chest. It just reminds him that he’s in the same state of dress, and he crosses his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Have you fallen ill?” Prompto shakes his head and hands over his phone with the last email still open. The advisor’s face slowly morphs from concerned to confused to angry. “Who sent these to you?”

 

“Diruo,” he quietly admits, and after a pause, “I’m sorry.” 

 

What he expects is a lecture from his boyfriend, scolding him for getting him into this situation. It wouldn’t be the first time. Last year, after telling his parents about Diruo, the first thing out of his mother’s mouth had been ‘why did you keep letting him in?’ Of course, they did their best to support him as he did his best to move on with his life, but his mother’s words haunt him.

 

Ignis’ eyes soften, and his eyebrows knit together. “Why are you apologizing?”

 

The whole story tumbles out of Prompto’s mouth with little coaxing from Ignis. Warning the high schooler. Diruo showing up at his dorm. When he mentions that Diruo pushed him, Ignis’ mouth tightens into a straight line, and he walks to the coffee table where he’d tossed his phone on the way in.

 

Prompto starts to panic and another apology falls from his lips. “I’m sorry. I know I probably should have stayed out of it, or I should have been more careful about opening my door. A-and I’m really trying to handle it! I’ll delete my social media profiles, and I can move to another dorm, and I can change my running route and…” he falters at the look Ignis is giving him. Disappointment? He suddenly fears that Ignis is about to break up with him and blinks back the tears threatening to form.

 

Ignis motions for Prompto to come over. The phones in his hands are set down as his nimble fingers reach for the blanket he keeps draped over the back of his couch. When Prompto’s close enough, Ignis wraps the blanket around the blonde’s bare shoulders and pulls him into his arms. “I’m sorry you feel you must handle this yourself.”

 

It’s not in Prompto’s nature to cry much, especially in front of others, but he does let out a shuddering breath and clings to Ignis. When Ignis rests his chin on top of Prompto’s head, the teen clings closer and presses his cheek against his boyfriend’s shoulder. Ignis makes him feel safe.

 

“By morning, I can have his IP address tracked and a cease and desist in the mail. And I know it’s not preferable, but I’d be more comfortable if you stayed here or with Noct for a while.”

 

Prompto sighs but relents. “I get it. Sorry I kinda put a damper on the evening.”

 

Ignis pulls back to look Prompto in his eyes. His right hand moves to rest on Prompto’s neck and his thumb strokes Prompto’s cheek. “You are not at fault for standing up for someone else. This is not a normal reaction, so there is zero reason to feel ashamed or apologize. You do realize that, I hope?”

 

Maybe he’s just not used to someone going above and beyond to take care of him, but his heart swells and he doesn’t think he can breathe properly until he lets Ignis know how he feels about him. No matter how anxious and nervous he feels about sharing things with anyone, Ignis has never given him any indication that Prompto’s feelings are silly or invalid. 

 

“Prompto?”

 

“I… um, I love you.” His eyes avert away from Ignis’ shocked expression. “I know we haven’t been dating super long, but you’re super amazing, and I’m not looking for a reply or anything. I just… I just really love you. And I know I’m totally word vomiting, but I do it when I’m nervous, and I’m literally always nervous around you cuz you’re near perfect and-“

 

“As adorable as you are when you’re flustered, I think it’s best if I calm your nerves.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Ignis presses his lips against Prompto’s. Though the kiss is simple, the slow motion of Ignis’ lips on his makes his knees weak, and he eagerly parts his lips, wanting more. All his previous fear is gone, replaced with an insatiable want, no, _need_ for the man pressed against him. The advisor pulls away way too early, and Prompto groans and tries to pull Ignis in again. “More kissing would be awesome right about now.”

 

“Soon enough. But first…” Prompto fidgets under his boyfriend’s intense gaze. “I love you, too.”

 

Later, Prompto will feel mortified that he starts crying, but to his credit, the whole thing with Diruo has left him more stressed than he's ever been. There’s also the major fact that he thinks Ignis could do way better than a dorky teen who always feels the need to fill silence. It’s an overwhelming mix of relief and unbridled joy that he has no idea how to react besides tear up. He tries to hide his face in Ignis’ chest, flutily so, considering Ignis is still shirtless. Ignis does bring any attention to it. He kisses the top of Prompto’s head and lowers him to the couch.

 

Once his tears have subsided, and a calming hand is stroking Prompto’s hair, Ignis places a few phone calls. The first appears to be some kind of tech company, which Ignis tasks to track the emails’ IP address. The second is to a Crown City attorney who’s able to send out a cease and desist letter by the end of the next day. By the third phone call, the hand in Prompto’s hair is lulling him to sleep, otherwise he would have made some fuss about telling Noctis the situation. Even over the phone’s small speaker, Prompto can hear Noctis’ very specific threats towards a certain man. By the time Ignis starts to calm down his charge, Prompto’s out.

 

Prompto’s not sure when the last time he slept through the entire night. Like clockwork, he wakes up some time around 3am, still pressed into Ignis’ side. Knowing how light of a sleeper his boyfriend is, Prompto tries to pull away without disturbing him. Even his insomnia didn’t allow him to sit still as he tended to pace until he either passed out or the sun came up.

 

Somehow Ignis is just as vigilant in his sleep as he is when he’s awake, and he stirs as Prompto attempts to move Ignis’s arm from around him. “Dude. How even?” Prompto’s voice cracks from his previous tears and fatigue. “Do you actually shut down or do you just go into sleep mode at night?”

 

Ignis lets out a breathy chuckle. “Noct went through a period of somnambulism as a child. We shared a bed, and I trained myself to wake up when he did. I suppose I never broke the habit.” Ignis’ voice is a few shades deeper in his just-woke-up state. It’s another one of those things that makes Prompto want to jump his boyfriend, but somehow, he refrains and settles with a kiss to his cheek. “Are you feeling alright?”

 

“Yeah! Was just gonna hole myself up in the bathroom to play a phone game. I don’t sleep super well and didn’t want to keep you up.”

 

Instead of letting him go, Ignis pulls him in for a brief kiss and reaches for their phones on the coffee table. “A game of King’s Knight, then?”

 

“Dude, you don’t have to stay up just for me,” Prompto insists. He accepts his phone from Ignis and retreats his arm back into the warmth of his blanket.

 

“I know,” Ignis comments as he unlocks his phone. “I’d like to though. Are you ready?”

 

Prompto turns to stare at his boyfriend. When Ignis raises a questioning eyebrow, Prompto unwraps his blanket to throw half of it over Ignis’ shoulders. “You’re dumb, and I love you.” Ignis smiles and repeats the sentiment.

 

For a few hours, Prompto just feels _happy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calm before the storm? I promise shit also goes down next chapter.
> 
> I was supposed to finish this last week, but the rewrite got a away from me.
> 
> Also, I moved! Yay!
> 
> Also, my ex tried to contact me for the first time in 2 months! Boo!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *casually updates 7 months later*

A heavy sigh escapes Prompto’s lips as he enters his dormitory. It’s not too often he’s afforded the chance to be alone between staying with Ignis and Noctis. He loves them both, but it feels a little bit like being passed between separated parents. Usually, Ignis will pick him up around 4, but instead of waiting for him at the bus stop as usual, he goes to his dorm to pack up some more clothes.

 

Once he’s inside his room, he takes a moment to sit on his bed and look around. The sight makes him feel a little sad. He’d been so excited the day he moved in. It was finally a space that was only his. Sure, his parents had been barely home growing up, but it was still his parents’ house.

 

But like a reoccurring nightmare, Diruo’s taken away his freedom again.

 

Deciding to do what he came here to do, Prompto rises from his bed and goes to the closet to search for a bag to throw his clothes in. He could always fit a few things into his backpack, but he would rather not come back for a few days if possible.

 

Behind him, the door opens and closes. He doesn’t even have time to think about who could possibly be there, much less time to say anything before the familiar voice cuts through the silence. “Prom. I just need to talk to you for a minute.”

 

Prompto’s frozen in place and his hearts drops into his stomach. A million questions run through his mind. _How did he know I was here? Has he been following me this whole time. Waiting to catch me alone?_

 

“Prom…”

 

“Don’t call me that.” He wrestles with what to do with himself for a few seconds. Having his back to the other man doesn’t seem like the best idea, but he’s not sure if he can face him, since the last time they spoke didn’t end well. But in the end, he does turn around and face Diruo.

 

As usual his face is deceptively handsome. And he looks… distressed? A wave of anger comes over him, because _how dare_ he look distressed when he has Prompto constantly paranoid and on edge. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been trying to talk to you for a while, but you’re always with… with that guy.” At the mention of Ignis, Prompto feels for his phone in his pocket. He’s not sure how discreetly he can call his boyfriend to come help him, but he doesn’t think much good can come out of this conversation.

 

For now, he tries to keep his composure until he’s in a better position to use his phone. “I… I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk now. Maybe I could call you later?”

 

Diruo shakes his head. “I really wanted to do this in person. Look,” He steps forward and Prompto shuffles backwards, nearly standing inside the closet. “I shouldn’t have come yell at you or do all that online shit to you. It was wrong, and I’m sorry about it.”

 

“Okay, cool. Thanks for the apology, I guess. I really need to go though. Ignis is waiting.”

 

“Yeah, of course he is,” Diruo rolls his eyes. “But for real, I was just trying to scare you before. It was dumb, but I don’t really think it warrants a cease and desist. A little extreme, I think.” He moves forward again. “Prompto seriously, come on. Act like an adult.”

 

“Please stop. I’m not comfortable talking you, okay? I’m sorry, but you need to go.”

 

The older man scoffs. “I’m seriously just trying to apologize and start over with you.”

 

The next few seconds are quick. Diruo reaches and grabs Prompto’s wrist. His natural reaction is to tug his arm away, but Diruo’s hold is firm. At this point, he remembers the self-defense that’s been drilled into him. He rotates and flexes his trapped wrist towards him and grabs Diruo’s palm with his free hand. That loosens the grip, and that point Prompto uses both hands to rotate Diruo’s hand and shove it away from himself.

 

A beat passes before Diruo sucker punches Prompto with his right hand. The hand with all the fashionable rings. The force of the blow sends Prompto reeling backwards and his head connects with his closet rod. The combination of the pain coming from his nose and his head makes him crumple to the floor, hands gripping the injuries in a futile effort to alleviate the pain.

 

Up to this point in his life, Prompto’s fight or flight instinct has always leaned more heavily towards flight. Even now, his gut is telling him to _get up and run_ , but he’s just so tired. Tired of living in fear. Tired of everyone shooting him glances mixed with pity. In the end, it seems that being careful didn’t stop Diruo from breaking his nose. 

 

Prompto lunges. He easily catches Diruo off-guard and knocks his feet out from under him. From his pocket, his phone buzzes, but there’s no time to reach for it until he can restrain Diruo with whatever he has in his room. First, he has to gain control of Diruo’s hands, which is a difficult task, considering Diruo is a head taller than him and much stronger in his state of rage. He takes a few more hits to his shoulder and jaw before he can pin the older man’s hands down, but he can barely feel it with the adrenaline coursing through him.

 

Next, he takes stock of what he can use in the room as makeshift bindings. Prompto can only take a few glances before Diruo’s bucking in an effort to throw Prompto off him. Remembering Gladio’s training, Prompto shifts backward so he’s sitting on Diruo’s upper thighs, which takes away the older man’s leverage. Unfortunately, it also shifts Prompto’s weight back, and as soon as he releases a little bit of pressure on Diruo’s wrists, the older man is able to free himself and lands a blow to Prompto’s sternum, which knocks the breath out of him.

 

The distraction is enough for Diruo to gain the upper hand and he sits up and shoves Prompto to the side. In an instant, Diruo is on top of him, hands on his neck. When he was forced onto his back, Prompto’s leg had somehow become awkwardly trapped under him, and Diruo’s weight pressing down on him makes him feel like his leg might literally break from the pressure, but it’s a fleeting thought as his hands fight to pull the hands off his throat. With the breath that’s rapidly leaving his body, Prompto gives a last-ditch effort and screams. 

 

He screams for Ignis. 

 

He screams for Noctis. 

 

He screams for _anyone_.

 

His savior comes in the form of his floor’s resident advisor, slamming the door open and looking at the scene with wide eyes. The presence of someone else is what snaps Diruo out of whatever trance he’s in and runs out of the room. “Oh, shit! Prompto, right?” Prompto nods weakly as the RA runs over to him and helps him onto the bed. “I’m gonna call for help, okay?”

 

“Yeah,” he croaks out. “Thanks.”

 

While the RA pulls out his phone to call the police, Prompto pulls his still-buzzing phone out of his pocket. He hesitates for a moment but swipes the screen before the phone stops ringing.

 

“So, Gladio has your ex in a chokehold in front of your dorm. Please tell me you’re anywhere but here.” Noctis sounds like he’s trying to hold back the panic he’s feeling, but his trembling voice gives him away.

 

“I can’t.”

 

Noctis lets out a long string of curses. “I’m coming up. Sit tight.”

 

Prompto’s fairly sure Noctis warps half the way to his room because in less than two minutes, Noctis is hurrying through the doorway. “Prom…” Besides his still-bleeding nose, Prompto’s sure a few bruises are beginning to blossom, so he can only imagine what Noctis is seeing. “Shit, Prom.” The prince hardly acknowledges the RA as he kneels in front of his best friend, hands gripping his upper arms. Noctis appears to remember himself and quickly removes his hands to awkwardly splay them on the bed.

 

“Uhm, police are on their way.” The nervous RA ends his call and tucks his phone back into his pocket. “I should stay since I saw the end of what happened… if that’s okay with you, your highness.” Noctis hasn’t done anything to hide his identity for the day, so he’s easily recognizable to Prompto’s savior.

 

Noctis gives an appreciative smile and nods. “Thanks for being here.” He shifts his attention back to Prompto. “When we didn’t see you at the bus stop and didn’t answer your phone, we came looking… Your nose. Is it broken?”

 

Prompto nods. “Yeah, I think so.”

 

“A doctor at the citadel can fix that for you since you’re Crownsguard. Do you want me to call Ignis?”

 

“Where is he?”

 

“Did you not get his message?” Noctis pulls out his phone and opens up the last message from Ignis. “He got roped into some last-minute tour guide duty for some visiting nobles. He said he sent a text to let you know. Guess you didn’t see it before…” he trails off.

 

Prompto half nods to acknowledge that he understands, but Noctis mistakes the motion as a request to contact his advisor. Before Prompto can fully understand what’s going on, Ignis’ name pops up on Noctis’ phone. The phone only rings a couple of times before Prompto quickly jabs at the red button to stop the call. “No, don’t! If there’s something he had to do… no reason to bother him if he’s trying to impress some big wigs.” He chuckles, but it feels too forced and foreign. Like laughing isn’t even a part of his nature.

 

Noctis frowns. “He’s gonna be pissed that we didn’t tell right away.”

 

“I think I can handle Ignis being a little upset after breaking my nose. Might feel like a treat.”

 

The silence after this dark joke is long. Noctis has no idea what to say. After all, how could anyone? Maybe this is just Prompto’s way of coping. But again, who he is to tell someone how to cope. “We’ll wait a few minutes for the Crownsguard to clear out the lobby then we’ll go to the citadel, alright?” Though Noctis isn’t usually one for physical affection, he takes Prompto’s hands into his own. It’s this motion that makes Prompto notice his hands have been shaking since Diruo ran out. “You’re okay.”

 

The words ring hollow. In what way is he okay? He’d been stalked and harassed for weeks, and everything came to… this. Every single moment of the day he overanalyzed every move, trying to keep himself safe at the expense of his sanity, but… it didn’t matter.

 

Prompto retracts his hands closer to himself and nervously chews on his lip. “I’m just gonna… clean up a little so I don’ have to walk out like this.” Noctis nods dumbly and backs up so that Prompto can slowly rise to his feet. He can feel both sets of eyes watching him as he rolls the soreness out of his shoulders and shuffles across the room to the attached bathroom. He thanks whoever assigned rooms that he lucked out with his own bathroom. The squeak of the taps as he turns it on makes him flinch slightly, and he lets out an exasperated sigh at his own reaction.

 

He spends several minutes gently washing his face, going by touch since he can’t bring himself to look at his reflection. Once he finishes, he lowers the toilet lid so he can sit and rests his head in his hands. _One… Two… Three…_ , he counts slowly. As a child, his parents’ absence meant there was rarely anyone home to comfort him if he ever cried. After countless nights of sobbing into his pillow, he came up with this way to hold back the tears. There didn’t seem to be any point in crying if no one was there to wipe his tears away.

 

But there was also little reason to stay strong. Notice and Gladio knew he wasn’t strong. His RA knew he wasn’t strong. And soon enough Ignis would see that he wasn’t strong… that even when someone hurt him, he didn’t have the courage to hurt them back. This is the thought that pushes him over the edge. He spends the next ten minutes crying alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay :( As per usualy I start dating someone and I slack off  
> Also, sorry for the serious lack of Ignis. He's featured quite prominently in the next chapter, which I can confidently say is the last.  
> Trying my best to get this finished before nanowritmo :)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated! I've been suffering from horrible insomnia lately, so I'm always a little worried I come across as jumbled.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I do have a [tumblr](http://my-purple-milkshake.tumblr.com). It's mostly, so I can obsess over FFXV without it spilling into rl, but you can look at it and chat with me if you want?


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